8
Getting Real Column - 5
The all-but-universal walkway across the tops of tanks was for
maintenance access. These walks varied considerably and were
obviously designed to suit the particular arrangement of tank-
age. Piping between tanks, and connecting to pumps and inlet
and discharge facilities, might be entirely underground, partly
underground, or entirely above ground. Looking at a wide vari-
ety of photos, I would say they show all combinations, so the
modeler can choose how much piping to include. Even at large
oil refineries, as I have often seen in northern California, there
is visible piping to some tanks and none to others.
The liquids being
unloaded required only a
hose and a fitting which
could attach to the bot-
tom outlet of a tank car
(7). This is, of course,
quite easy to model.
But pumping would be
needed to get the prod-
uct into a tank, often well
above track level, so a
small pump house is a
typical part of these bulk
oil facilities. Usually the
pump house is well away
from other structures.
An important and vis-
ible part of one of these
dealerships was a ware-
house, where the plant
office could be located,
along with storage for packaged oils and greases, anywhere
from cartons of quart cans to full-size drums. These products
could arrive by rail, and if that was the case, there would be a
trackside unloading door. Delivery to local consumers would
be by truck, so there should be a corresponding door with
truck access. An example of such a building is in (6); another is
shown in Figure 8, a warehouse belonging to Union Oil.
Finally, it was common to have a loading facility for tank trucks
for local delivery. A small platform and shed roof was common
(see 5), but some facilities arranged to load directly from tanks.
One example is the Keystone Oil facility in New Cumberland,
Pennsylvania, as shown in (9). This photo also shows that sup-
port framing for horizontal tanks need not be massive.
7: I Tank car unloading hoses
at Standard Oil’s plant in
Bayway, New Jersey. The plat-
form above is for car loading.
–Standard Oil Company photo,
Rob Evans collection.
7
8: This Union Oil warehouse in Livermore California,
was photographed in June 1985. The flush lading door
toward the right end of the side is a common arrange-
ment. The building has few windows and a large com-
pany logo. – Author photo.
MRH-Mar 2014
